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There are a whole lot of books about writing out there. I know, I've bought enough of them over the years. A quick glance of my shelves reveals in the region of a dozen and that fails to take in to consideration the ones that were so bad they went swiftly in the direction of the nearest charity book shop.

Now, as you know if you follow my blog contributions, I like to concentrate on being positive so I'm going to point out the ones I have found useful and show the wear and tear of repeated readings. All are highly recommended and I urge you to track down a copy of each.

First up is the daddy of them all: On Writing by Stephen King. Part memoir and part instruction manual it is all brilliant. Written with a warmth that makes you feel you are sat having a companionable one-on-one with the great man, it not only gives advice on the nuts & bolts aspects of the craft but also on such topics as dealing with rejection and fitting writing time into a busy writing schedule.

My second favourite is On Writing Horror from the Horror Writers Assosiation and edited by the brilliant Mort Castle. Featuring contributions from genre legends such as Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale and Jack Ketchum it covers all aspects of the writing process from initial idea through to selling and promoting your work.

My final recommendation is How to write Science Fiction and Fantasyby Orson Scott Card which is a superb tool for assisting the writer to build the world in whcih to set their stories. It leans slightly more towards the Fantasy side of things but in common with the other two books featured here also contains advice on the non-writing aspects of a writers career.

What are you still doing here? Get and buy these books now. Go on, be off with you!